CBS Corp. joins a small, but growing pool of companies that are seeking to hitch a ride on the real estate gravy train by folding nontraditional properties into a real estate investment trust.

In CBS’s case, the media conglomerate said late Wednesday that it wants to spin-off its U.S. billboards into a REIT operated under its CBS Outdoor subsidiary. CBS is following on the heels of casino operator Penn National Gaming Inc., prison operator Corrections Corporation of America and rival billboard owner Lamar Advertising Company, which are all considering REIT conversion plans American Tower Corp., which develops cell phone towers, was the only company (excluding private REITs) to actually convert into a public REIT in 2012.

“Converting to a REIT has taken on the same meaning as dot.com did in 1998,” said David Harris, an analyst at Imperial Capital LLC.

It’s a good time to be a REIT, particularly in an era of rising taxes. REITs largely avoid corporate taxes if they pay 90% of their taxable income to investors via dividends. REITs are also extremely popular among investors, particularly those at retirement age because they provide high and stable dividends. REITs delivered a total return of nearly 20% in 2012, beating the S&P 500 Index’s 16% gain. REITs outpaced the index for the fourth consecutive year.

“A lot of different and nontraditional companies are looking for ways to cash in on their real-estate holdings,” said Paul Adornato, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

But some of these companies maybe a hard sell to investors initially because they’re not your garden variety REITs like office, hotels, apartments and retail landlords.

“Everyone knows what an office is…what a mall is. When there is a new sector, there is a bit of hesitation until the investor base understands it,” said Alexander Goldfarb, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill.

Mr. Adornato noted that although a billboard REIT is one of the most unusual concepts, it’s not too far off from other nontraditional REITs like self-storage, timber and tower.

“Over time, they gained acceptance,” among investors, he said. “If they’re able to create a growth business model, then I don’t see any reason why the traditional REIT investors will not be interested in this company.”